The Disney Vacation Club is somewhat similar to a timeshare, with the biggest difference being that members own "points" that can be exchanged for days at Disney Vacation Club properties. This allows the reserving of rooms at a DVC resort anytime of the year, for any number of days, rather than a set time, week or period.

DVC points can be used to stay at any of the 12 deluxe Disney Vacation Club properties. There are 8 Vacation Club Resorts located on property at Walt Disney World, 1 on the Atlantic Ocean at Vero Beach, 1 in South Carolina at Hilton Head Island, 1 in Anaheim California at the Disneyland resort and the newest resort, Aulani, located at Ko Olina on the island of O'ahu in Hawaii.

While staying at the Disney World resort in Orlando Florida, as a guest of a DVC Member, you will receive all the benefits of any guest staying on property, including the Magical Express, the Dining Plan and Extended Magic Hours.

Renting points from a DVC Member for stays at a Disney Vacation Club property can save you hundreds of dollars off the regular rack rates.

Well-Known Member

This is not meant to be a slam on David's - I have never had a bad experience with them, and I've yet to encounter anyone who did. This is just a word of caution - depending on the time of year you're visiting and the size of room you're trying to get, you might save little to nothing by renting DVC points as well.

This is especially true when it comes to looking at 1BR units. The simple (well, simplistic) math of it all is this - DVC members often have to use somewhere around twice as many points (give or take a few) to book a 1BR villa versus a studio. But the rack rates for those rooms won't be nearly twice as many (and that's not taking into consideration any room discount you might be able to get).

Example - looking up rooms at Kidani Village for a week in early March 2016. Studio savannah view, with taxes, is $4740. 1 Bedroom savannah view with all taxes is $5401. Less than $100 difference a night. A 2BR is $9357.

I'm looking up Kidani Village At Animal Kingdom Lodge for the first week in Feb of 2016. $3629 for a studio. $4241 for a 1BR, $6117 for a 2BR, all Savannah views, including all taxes.

Same rates via David's at $15 per point? $1845 for the Studio, $4080 for the 1BR, $5580 for the 2BR.

Great deal on the studio. But the difference for the 1BR between travelocity and David's is less than $200. About $530 for the 2BR. And for that savings, you won't get daily Mousekeeping (maybe it's worth it for you, maybe not), and perhaps less flexibility if you need to alter your reservation. And who knows if other online travel providers (or a bona fide travel agent, or AAA or WDW direct) might not be able to do better for you than that?

FWIW, the few occasions I had contemplated using David's and contacted them for info, they were polite and cordial and thorough and professional. I can't say a bad word about them. They are reputable for the service they provide. But that service is getting you the room you want, not getting you the best deal. So before committing to David's, don't be afraid to do a little homework. And if David's turns out to be best option, book with confidence.

Love a little Disney every day!! ;)

This is not meant to be a slam on David's - I have never had a bad experience with them, and I've yet to encounter anyone who did. This is just a word of caution - depending on the time of year you're visiting and the size of room you're trying to get, you might save little to nothing by renting DVC points as well.

This is especially true when it comes to looking at 1BR units. The simple (well, simplistic) math of it all is this - DVC members often have to use somewhere around twice as many points (give or take a few) to book a 1BR villa versus a studio. But the rack rates for those rooms won't be nearly twice as many (and that's not taking into consideration any room discount you might be able to get).

Example - looking up rooms at Kidani Village for a week in early March 2016. Studio savannah view, with taxes, is $4740. 1 Bedroom savannah view with all taxes is $5401. Less than $100 difference a night. A 2BR is $9357.

I'm looking up Kidani Village At Animal Kingdom Lodge for the first week in Feb of 2016. $3629 for a studio. $4241 for a 1BR, $6117 for a 2BR, all Savannah views, including all taxes.

Same rates via David's at $15 per point? $1845 for the Studio, $4080 for the 1BR, $5580 for the 2BR.

Great deal on the studio. But the difference for the 1BR between travelocity and David's is less than $200. About $530 for the 2BR. And for that savings, you won't get daily Mousekeeping (maybe it's worth it for you, maybe not), and perhaps less flexibility if you need to alter your reservation. And who knows if other online travel providers (or a bona fide travel agent, or AAA or WDW direct) might not be able to do better for you than that?

FWIW, the few occasions I had contemplated using David's and contacted them for info, they were polite and cordial and thorough and professional. I can't say a bad word about them. They are reputable for the service they provide. But that service is getting you the room you want, not getting you the best deal. So before committing to David's, don't be afraid to do a little homework. And if David's turns out to be best option, book with confidence.

Very well put and I totally agree. We a lot like you before we joined DVC in 2013 always stayed in 1 bedroom Villas and just booked directly through Disney and usually had some type of room only offer as well. We never rented. Nothing against it as some love to do it and it can save you money, but you definitely have to do your homework and see what the best prices are and weigh the pros and cons of renting points vs. booking directly through Disney. Best advice overall is to price both and look into each option thoroughly before making a decision.
A lot of folks don't even know you can stay in a "DVC" resort or room if not a member, and if they do know think you have to rent points and that's not the case. Sometimes it's the best option and sometimes it's not depending on lots of variables like mentioned.

Well-Known Member

Just do the math, all the calculators are easy to use on David's website.

We will be using David's for the first time soon, i do wish however the passholder rates were out before we booked, as the savings came out to like $14 total - bit of a bummer for not being able to cancel. That is another huge deal to some, you must absolutely commit to your dates, or lose out on the entire cost of the stay.

Had we booked through Disney, and using the Disney Visa, we would have come out better than Davids in our scenario.

But in any case, we will try it again, the more deluxe you go, the better deals are to be had.

New Member

This is not meant to be a slam on David's - I have never had a bad experience with them, and I've yet to encounter anyone who did. This is just a word of caution - depending on the time of year you're visiting and the size of room you're trying to get, you might save little to nothing by renting DVC points as well.

This is especially true when it comes to looking at 1BR units. The simple (well, simplistic) math of it all is this - DVC members often have to use somewhere around twice as many points (give or take a few) to book a 1BR villa versus a studio. But the rack rates for those rooms won't be nearly twice as many (and that's not taking into consideration any room discount you might be able to get).

Example - looking up rooms at Kidani Village for a week in early March 2016. Studio savannah view, with taxes, is $4740. 1 Bedroom savannah view with all taxes is $5401. Less than $100 difference a night. A 2BR is $9357.

I'm looking up Kidani Village At Animal Kingdom Lodge for the first week in Feb of 2016. $3629 for a studio. $4241 for a 1BR, $6117 for a 2BR, all Savannah views, including all taxes.

Same rates via David's at $15 per point? $1845 for the Studio, $4080 for the 1BR, $5580 for the 2BR.

Great deal on the studio. But the difference for the 1BR between travelocity and David's is less than $200. About $530 for the 2BR. And for that savings, you won't get daily Mousekeeping (maybe it's worth it for you, maybe not), and perhaps less flexibility if you need to alter your reservation. And who knows if other online travel providers (or a bona fide travel agent, or AAA or WDW direct) might not be able to do better for you than that?

FWIW, the few occasions I had contemplated using David's and contacted them for info, they were polite and cordial and thorough and professional. I can't say a bad word about them. They are reputable for the service they provide. But that service is getting you the room you want, not getting you the best deal. So before committing to David's, don't be afraid to do a little homework. And if David's turns out to be best option, book with confidence.

This is not meant to be a slam on David's - I have never had a bad experience with them, and I've yet to encounter anyone who did. This is just a word of caution - depending on the time of year you're visiting and the size of room you're trying to get, you might save little to nothing by renting DVC points as well.

This is especially true when it comes to looking at 1BR units. The simple (well, simplistic) math of it all is this - DVC members often have to use somewhere around twice as many points (give or take a few) to book a 1BR villa versus a studio. But the rack rates for those rooms won't be nearly twice as many (and that's not taking into consideration any room discount you might be able to get).

Example - looking up rooms at Kidani Village for a week in early March 2016. Studio savannah view, with taxes, is $4740. 1 Bedroom savannah view with all taxes is $5401. Less than $100 difference a night. A 2BR is $9357.

I'm looking up Kidani Village At Animal Kingdom Lodge for the first week in Feb of 2016. $3629 for a studio. $4241 for a 1BR, $6117 for a 2BR, all Savannah views, including all taxes.

Same rates via David's at $15 per point? $1845 for the Studio, $4080 for the 1BR, $5580 for the 2BR.

Great deal on the studio. But the difference for the 1BR between travelocity and David's is less than $200. About $530 for the 2BR. And for that savings, you won't get daily Mousekeeping (maybe it's worth it for you, maybe not), and perhaps less flexibility if you need to alter your reservation. And who knows if other online travel providers (or a bona fide travel agent, or AAA or WDW direct) might not be able to do better for you than that?

FWIW, the few occasions I had contemplated using David's and contacted them for info, they were polite and cordial and thorough and professional. I can't say a bad word about them. They are reputable for the service they provide. But that service is getting you the room you want, not getting you the best deal. So before committing to David's, don't be afraid to do a little homework. And if David's turns out to be best option, book with confidence.

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Simple. You tell me when and where you want to stay and what kind of room you want. I will check availability, and book the reservation. You pay me via PayPal and I give you the reservation number. Bam. Done!! I have rented to a few wonderful people on here.

The Disney Vacation Club is somewhat similar to a timeshare, with the biggest difference being that members own "points" that can be exchanged for days at Disney Vacation Club properties. This allows the reserving of rooms at a DVC resort anytime of the year, for any number of days, rather than a set time, week or period.

DVC points can be used to stay at any of the 12 deluxe Disney Vacation Club properties. There are 8 Vacation Club Resorts located on property at Walt Disney World, 1 on the Atlantic Ocean at Vero Beach, 1 in South Carolina at Hilton Head Island, 1 in Anaheim California at the Disneyland resort and the newest resort, Aulani, located at Ko Olina on the island of O'ahu in Hawaii.

While staying at the Disney World resort in Orlando Florida, as a guest of a DVC Member, you will receive all the benefits of any guest staying on property, including the Magical Express, the Dining Plan and Extended Magic Hours.

Renting points from a DVC Member for stays at a Disney Vacation Club property can save you hundreds of dollars off the regular rack rates.

New Member

Simple. You tell me when and where you want to stay and what kind of room you want. I will check availability, and book the reservation. You pay me via PayPal and I give you the reservation number. Bam. Done!! I have rented to a few wonderful people on here.

We would like to stay at the Animal Kingdom lodge, with a balcony, and the animal view of the zebras and animals. Staying Thurs week after marathon til checkout mon morn. What is your availability? Pricey Prices? Looking for around 150 a night if you can swing it

Proud DVC Member

We would like to stay at the Animal Kingdom lodge, with a balcony, and the animal view of the zebras and animals. Staying Thurs week after marathon til checkout mon morn. What is your availability? Pricey Prices? Looking for around 150 a night if you can swing it

You mean for 2018, right? That weekend is already fully booked for AKL Savannah view rooms. You really need to have a planned date of 10 or 11 months out to get one of those. You also didn't mention how many people, as that can affect room size as well.

Member

Looking at booking through davids for 12/30/17 - 1/8/18 for 9 people. Our issue is that they don't tell availability until after you put in the official request and deposit. I understand if the room is not available your deposit is refunded but it makes us a little leery. With our party size we are looking at a two bedroom standard as we only want to stay at Animal Kingdom Jambo. We are probably being too picky for only less than nine months out, but is there a way for us to check availability and then rent points?

Well-Known Member

Looking at booking through davids for 12/30/17 - 1/8/18 for 9 people. Our issue is that they don't tell availability until after you put in the official request and deposit. I understand if the room is not available your deposit is refunded but it makes us a little leery. With our party size we are looking at a two bedroom standard as we only want to stay at Animal Kingdom Jambo. We are probably being too picky for only less than nine months out, but is there a way for us to check availability and then rent points?

The only way to check availability is through a DVC owner, or through the rental company.

As it happens I am a DVC member, and for those dates there is only availability at Kidani, not Jambo.
Not sure if you realise that Jambi only has the lock-off option (1 bed + a studio), not the "dedicated" 2 bed. Kidani has the dedicated available now.

However, the DVC availability is very different to David's availability. To book 9 months out, David needs a member who owns at AKL who has points to rent out (or already has a booking that for some reason they want to rent out). And availability is transient; that room could already be booked in the time it's taken me to write this post.

That is why paying the deposit before he does the checking is realistically the best option. He will be having to do quite a bit of checking himself to find what you want, and it may take some time.

There are no doubt many DVC members on the board who will happily check availability for you, but this doesn't necessarily translate to being able to then register and get a rental for specific dates and locations.

Well-Known Member

Looking at booking through davids for 12/30/17 - 1/8/18 for 9 people. Our issue is that they don't tell availability until after you put in the official request and deposit. I understand if the room is not available your deposit is refunded but it makes us a little leery. With our party size we are looking at a two bedroom standard as we only want to stay at Animal Kingdom Jambo. We are probably being too picky for only less than nine months out, but is there a way for us to check availability and then rent points?

Member

Thanks for not only giving your advice but also checking the dates and availability! Trying to put together the best and reasonably priced package for my family of five and both sets of grandparents. Your help is much appreciated!

New Member

Simple. You tell me when and where you want to stay and what kind of room you want. I will check availability, and book the reservation. You pay me via PayPal and I give you the reservation number. Bam. Done!! I have rented to a few wonderful people on here.